Day 684: Ig-Nobly Speaking

originally published November 14, 2013 Every so often when perusing scientific news we come across a study that seems, to the layman observer, to be mildly superfluous. Do we need to know which phase of the menstrual cycle will bring in better tips for a lap dancer? Are horses so finicky with food that we […]

Day 674: How To Screw Yourself Over In One Simple Temporal Paradox

originally published November 4, 2013 So Marty McFly shows up back in 1985, the timeline restored and the set-up in place for a whacky epilogue. His parents are now confident and healthy, his brother has an office job and his sister no longer dresses in thrift-store rejects. But wait… why does his brother still live […]

Day 613: The Bullocky Stench Of The Temporal Jet-Set

originally published September 4, 2013 Here’s a thought. If Marty McFly had set the time circuits on the DeLorean to show up fifteen minutes early instead of ten when he returned to 1985, he might have thwarted the Libyan terrorists before they’d shot Doc Brown, leaving two Martys in the parking lot and an irreconcilable […]

Day 595: Of Milgrams And Monsters

originally published August 17, 2013 A couple weeks ago I wrote a piece about unethical human experimentation in the United States. Due to the overwhelming response (which consisted mainly of my bulldog-in-chief, Rufus, wagging his tail when I’d talk to him about it), I thought I’d delve into the subject a little deeper. I’ve found […]

Day 590: I’d Like To Call Our Lord And Savior To The Stand

originally published August 12, 2013 A few words about the great state of Tennessee before I begin. It’s a lovely state, full of history, and it features Nashville, one of the bedrock states of American music. I feel I need to preface with this, as Tennessee has taken a few hits in the media lately. […]

Day 586: Rockin’ Out To The Walkman Effect

originally published August 8, 2013 It’s not uncommon to look around while riding the bus and notice that everyone around you is staring vacantly into oblivion, plain white earbuds tethered to their heads like pod-zombies wired into the Matrix. I know – I’m one of them, although I prefer the comfy over-the-ear cans that drown […]

Day 580: Science, With Just A Dash Of Evil

originally published August 2, 2013 If you’re looking for a sobering way to spend an hour (and I can see no reason why you’d want to do so on International Beer Day), have a look at the Wikipedia article about unethical human experimentation in American history. It might make you think twice about heading to […]

Day 576: Fermi-ing La Porte On The Little Green Men

originally published July 29, 2013 “Where is everybody?” So declared physicist Enrico Fermi over lunch with some colleagues in the midst of a discussion about the possibility of extra-terrestrial life on other planets. The ensuing talk led Fermi to conclude that by now (or, by then, in 1951) our planet should be splattered with the […]

Day 573: From Boy To Girl To Man – The David Reimer Mess

originally published July 26, 2013 Every so often, medical science allows for a horrific story to plop onto the table of discussion, the foul stench of How-Could-They mocking the air while the malodorous sludge of dangerous malpractice seeps off the edge and lands in a tragic little puddle of broken lives and stolen future. For […]

Day 572: Understanding Today’s Google Doodle: Rosalind Franklin

originally published July 25, 2013 When I opened up Google this morning, this was my string of thought: “Hooray! A new Google Doodle!” “Oh, it doesn’t have a built-in game or anything.” “Rosalind who?” “Oh. Something-something-biology. DNA. Never heard of her.” Well that’s hardly the breed of wide-eyed curiosity and insufferable openness that has led […]